ELI5: what is the difference between cc and bcc

CC means everyone you send the email to sees who else got the same email, while BCC means the other recipients can't see who else got it.

Think of it like inviting people to a birthday party.

• CC is like announcing at the party, "Hey everyone, I also invited Sarah, Tom, and Emily!" Everyone knows who else is there because you invited them. In an email, if you put Sarah, Tom, and Emily in the CC field, everyone who receives the email (including you!) will see that Sarah, Tom, and Emily also received it. They will see their email addresses. You use CC when you want everyone to know who is "in the loop." For example, you might CC your boss on an email to a client so your boss knows what you're discussing.

• BCC is like secretly inviting someone to the party without telling the other guests. You know they're there, but they're incognito! If you put Sarah, Tom, and Emily in the BCC field, only you know that they received the email. The main recipient and even Sarah, Tom, and Emily themselves won't know who else received the BCC copy. You use BCC when you want to protect someone's privacy, like if you're sending a mass email and don't want to share everyone's email addresses with each other. For instance, if you were inviting all your soccer team members to a meeting, you might use BCC to keep their email addresses private.